Sailor Moon Universal: The Sequel
by hazel's tears
Summary: I want things to be the way they were, the way they're supposed to be!" A fresh spate of tears fell down Reenie's face. Amy said harshly, "You have to live in this' world, because there's no way to change what has happened." Story by Jerdra.
1. Prologue

_First and foremost this is not my story. This story was written by Jendra and is the sequel to her story Sailor Moon Universal. I really enjoyed this story when I first read it almost 3 years ago and when I realized it wasn't on fanfiction , I decided to upload it. Once again __**this story is not mine!** __I am just a huge fan of the story. _

_I would also recommend reading Sailor Moon Universal first; you might get really confused if you don't. It was posted on by Mandara. _

* * *

Prologue

A small pink haired girl slept peacefully beneath a cover of rabbits and moons. A small gray kitten was curled up on her chest. The little girl woke slowly and stretched. Still half asleep and with her eyes closed, she absently petted the complaining kitten.

"Serena! Wake up!" a voice called from elsewhere in the house.

"Serena?" she whispered, her eyes flying open. "Am I back in the..." her voice trailed off as she finally got a look at the room she was in.

At first glance it looked like Serena's room, but a closer glance revealed differences. The furniture seemed smaller than it should have been. The alarm clock wasn't the new one Serena had received for her birthday. Instead, it was a digital clock shaped like a star. There were more dolls than she remembered, and she was holding one in her arms.

She looked closely at the exquisitely made doll. Its face and hands were porcelain, but its body was huggable soft. Its wavy brown hair felt real, and it was dressed in a beautiful red gown. *She's beautiful! Maybe Mommy gave her to me. But why don't I remember?* Still holding it, she continued looking around the room as her mind went back to the night before.

_Reenie and Diana raced down the stairs with Luna Ball close behind her. "Mommy, Daddy! You're home!" _

_"Yes, sweetheart," King Endymion smiled down at her. "We said we'd try to make it today, didn't we?" _

_"And," Neo-Queen Serenity said, picking Reenie up, "Everything is fixed, so we shouldn't have to leave for at least another two weeks." _

_"Does that mean you can take me to the park tomorrow?" Reenie asked happily. _

_"Little one," Serenity answered, "Tomorrow we'll spend the whole day with you, okay? I know how much you've missed us, and I'm very proud of how well you handled it." _

_"And now Small Lady," Endymion said, taking her out of her mother's arms and carrying her upstairs, "It's time for you to go to bed. Tomorrow, we're all yours, so you need to be well rested, okay?" _

_"Okay Daddy," Reenie answered as she yawned. She'd stayed up past her bed time in the hopes they would be home like they had promised. _

_Endymion carried her up to her room, with Serenity following closely on his heels. _

_"Good night, Reenie," Serenity whispered, bending down to kiss her cheek. _

_"Good night, Mommy. Good night, Daddy. Love you," she murmured. "I'm glad you're back." _

_"Good night, sweet dreams," her father said. "We'll see you in the morning." _

Reenie frowned and looked around again. She went over her memories a second time. Nowhere was there any mention of her taking a trip to the past. She didn't remember being woken up in the middle of the night and being sent into the past and found it hard to believe it had happened without her knowing.

It was when her eyes reached the pictures on the dresser that she realized there was something seriously wrong. There should have been pictures of Serena with her family, Serena with Darien and Reenie, and pictures of Serena with the Scouts. Instead the dresser held pictures of Reenie with two adults she didn't know.

Reenie stood up slowly and walked forward in a daze. Her eyes moved from one picture to another. All of them held a person who was obviously her, at different ages. Yet nowhere did she see any sign of her parents.

The kitten was sitting up and staring worriedly at her mistress.

"What's going on, Diana?" Reenie asked in a panicked voice. "Where are we? When are we? And where are my parents?"

Diana looked even more worried but didn't answer.

Reenie didn't notice. She had walked over to the window and was staring out with the same intensity she had stared at the pictures. It was Tokyo. There was no doubt about that. Tokyo Tower still thrust upward against the skyline. However, little else seemed familiar. The buildings seemed taller and strangely shaped and some were broken. Also, the perspective was different than what she was used to.

A young woman with wavy brown hair came into the room. "Serena?" she asked impatiently, "Why aren't you dressed? You're going to be late for school."

Reenie gasped and spun around, staring at the woman from the photos. And, she now realized, she looked like the doll as well.

"What's the matter, dear?" the woman asked, concerned.

"Who are you?" Reenie asked in a trembling voice.

"What are you talking about? I'm your mother of course," the young woman said worriedly, walking towards the child.

Reenie tried to back up, but found herself trapped. Her head was swinging jerkily as she denied the statement she had just heard. "No you're not!"

"Serena," she began.

"Don't call me that!" Reenie's voice had gained confidence, "My name is Reenie! What have you done with my parents?"

A young man, slightly familiar from more than the pictures came in. "Come on, sport, you're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up," he said teasingly before he felt the tension in the air. "Is something the matter?"

"I think Serena's sick, Sammy!" the young woman said, "Or maybe she just had a bad dream, yes, that's it, isn't it sweetheart? You had a bad dream where we weren't your parents."

Reenie was staring at the young man. The name he had been called brought memories of a young kid that loved to tease her, and join with her in teasing Serena. She continued staring at him until the face clicked. It was an older version of her uncle, whom she had last seen when he was ten.

"Come on kiddo," Sammy said heartily, "you know us, you're just playing a game, aren't you?"

Reenie nodded slowly, "I know you," she whispered. Sammy and the woman smiled brightly. She continued, "But I don't know her, and I don't know why you're calling me Serena, or why you're saying you're my parents." The smiles were gone.

Sammy answered patiently, "We call you Serena, because that's your name, Serena Usagi Tsukino. And we say we're you're parents, because we are."

Reenie shook her head again. "Serena Usagi Tsukino is my mommy, I'm Serena Usagi Chiba. My daddy's Darien Chiba, and you're my uncle. Now, where are my parents?!" Reenie had started out calmly but was now almost shouting. She was very worried by what was going on. If the people pretending to be her parents had been strangers, she would have thought it a trick by the Negaverse, or someone else who wanted a pawn against her parents. But this was her uncle, Sammy, and he wouldn't do that to her.

Sammy looked very surprised, and hissed at his wife, "Mika, did you tell her?"

She shook her head slightly.

Sammy's wife grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out into the hallway.

Reenie turned and looked at the room once more. Her eyes fell on Diana, who was still sitting on the bed, not seeming to have moved since Reenie got up. "Do you know anything about this Diana?"

Diana just sat there.

"Diana, answer me," Reenie demanded.

"Meow," Diana answered.

"That is not funny, Diana! I'm not in the mood for jokes right now," Reenie snapped, turning away. Her voice cracked as it seemed even Diana was turning against her. She struggled to control her tears.

"Why won't you talk to me, Diana? Are you as messed up as the rest of this?" She suddenly heard a small voice behind her, and a single tear of relief trickled down her cheek.

"How did you know I could talk?" Diana asked very quietly. Her young voice showed the same worry that Sammy and his wife had shown.

"I've always known you could talk," Reenie answered. "Why would you hide it? And where are `your' parents? Where are Luna and Artemis?"

"No one was supposed to know," Diana said, still quietly, "It was one of the last things Mama told me, that no one should know, not even you."

Reenie froze, "Last things?" she whispered.

"Mm-hmm," Diana mewed softly, "They left years ago, I don't know exactly why. I was too young. I had to stay here."

"Because you were so young?" Reenie asked as she picked the kitten up.

"And because I was your guardian," Diana said, snuggling into Reenie's embrace.

"What's going on, Diana? Why do Sammy and... and... what's her name... say they're my parents?" Reenie asked in a trembling voice.

"I thought they were," Diana answered. "You were living with them when I came, and that was years ago. And her name is Mika."

"Mika... Mika? I know that name," Reenie mused. She suddenly looked down at the doll she was still absently holding. "Of course! Mika was that friend of Sammy's who won an award for the dolls she made. Did she make this one?"

"Yes, she made it for your third birthday. You call her Mi'a Doll, because you couldn't pronounce Mika. You take her with you everywhere, even places you don't take me," Diana answered, "But why am I telling you this, you should know."

"But I don't know, Diana, because this isn't the way I lived! I lived with my parents from the moment I was born. And you and your parents lived with us too." Reenie sounded like she was about to burst into tears, "I want it to go back to normal. I want to go home," she ended in a whisper.

She tried to think of a new topic. "Mi'a Doll, huh? Looks like I have the same way of naming things, Mi'a Doll and Luna Ball." She looked around, "I guess Luna Ball's not here either, hmm?"

"What's Luna Ball?" Diana asked. "Any relation to Luna?"

"Luna Ball was one of my toys, though it was much more than a toy. It could do anything I wanted it to. And its face looked like Luna's. It even had the crescent moon," she finished, tracing the moon on Diana's forehead.

Reenie was still sitting on the bed, stroking the kitten and holding the doll, when Sammy, Mika, and another woman entered the room.

"Now, Serena," the other woman asked kindly, "What is this about you having a bad dream?"

Reenie shook herself, and tried to stop staring at the woman, in her thirties, with shoulder length blue hair. Reenie whispered, half to herself, "What has happened?"

"What do you mean, Serena?" Amy asked, "Oh, I'm sorry, you wish to be called Reenie now, correct?"

Reenie just stared at Amy for a long moment, "Maybe you can explain it to me, Amy," she finally said.

"I'll certainly try," Amy agreed.

Reenie got up and started pacing. "My name is Serena Usagi Serenity Chiba, but I'm usually called either Reenie or Small Lady. I am the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity of the Moon, and King Endymion of Earth." She had been watching Amy's face closely and saw her shock at those two names. "I am also niece and heir to King Tranquility of the Sun." She looked at Sammy and Mika and realized they thought she was talking about a dream she had had. Amy still looked shocked at those names coming from a person who should have had no way of knowing they could exist.

Reenie continued, "I was born in the year 2989 in Crystal Tokyo. My parents, with the help of the Sailor Scouts, ruled there."

Sammy jerked at those words and broke in, "How did you know about them? It's forbidden to speak of them," he hissed.

"Forbidden?" Reenie asked in disbelief, "What do you mean `forbidden'? Why can't I talk about Sailor Venus, who's head of PR? What is that anyway?" she asked in an aside. "And she's leader of the Scouts when Mommy and Daddy are busy. Or Sailor Mars, Head of Palace Security and in... in... um... I can't remember the word, she's head of the spies. Of course she's not in charge of Sailor Jupiter, our personal bodyguard and Head of the Royal Guard. Sailor Mercury is head of the entire hospital and school system of Crystal Tokyo, one of the things that makes it such a.. a.. shoot, I can't remember that word either, it starts with a U."

"Utopia?" Amy asked absently, still trying to absorb what she had heard.

"Yeah, that's right, Utopia. And then there's..." but she was interrupted by a loud knocking at the front door.

Reenie and Mika screamed as the front door was suddenly broken in and heavy footsteps marched towards the room.

The door crashed open to reveal a large man with dark red hair, the color of blood, and dressed in a gray uniform. With him, he had a tall black youma. He stared around at the four people standing in the room.

"You have been overheard speaking words forbidden by our great leader. That is treason. Release the one who spoke them to our justice, or you will all suffer the punishment." His voice was unemotional, and all the more chilling for that.

"It was that one, Lord," the youma spoke quietly, pointing to Reenie.

The human-looking one shot a glare at the youma, he had wanted to make them tell him. It was always more fun forcing one to tell upon another. He looked at the little pink haired one who was staring at him and realized how young she was. He smiled, this could be fun after all.

"So, the child! She must have been taught, who taught her?"

"We do not know, Great Lord," Sammy said immediately, bowing.

"I don't believe you," the man said chillingly. "I think `you' taught her to speak treason. Kill him," he said to the youma.

Without any more warning than that, the youma raised his arm and shot Sammy through the heart as the others looked on in disbelief.

"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" screamed Mika and Reenie as they saw him fall. Reenie dropped the doll in disbelief. The three women rushed to his side, Amy trying to find a pulse as Mika held him to her and Reenie wailed.

"Well?" asked the blood haired man, "Are you going to tell me who taught you?"

No one was paying attention, especially Reenie, too caught up in grief to even hear. Although she had not known Sammy for long at this age, she still had fond memories of him before, and could not bear the thought that he was dead because of her. She wailed louder.

The blood haired man laughed, he loved doing this to humans. "You know," he said to the youma, "I don't think he taught her. But if it wasn't her father, it must have been her mother, kill her too."

Even if the women had been listening, they wouldn't have had any time to respond between the time he gave the order, and the time the youma carried it out. The first they knew about it was when they saw the beam go past them and enter Mika. She fell, still holding Sammy, not letting him go, even in death.

Reenie screamed, and her red eyes flared. As the fear, grief, rage, and guilt combined within her, she managed something that had not happened in the past two years. Her moonbeam appeared once more. As the white power surrounded her, Reenie threw herself at the youma. Never before had she used the moonbeam like this, but she was determined to punish them for what they had done. For one desperate minute, she wished she had the ability to become Sailor Crescent Moon or Sailor Universe on her own. Then she threw the thought away and concentrated on making sure that the youma did not dodge.

The youma didn't. Whether he was too surprised at the power, shocked that someone attacked him, or whether she was just too fast didn't matter.

Reenie exulted as she saw the moonbeam's power turn the youma into dust before her. However, the exultation caused much of the rage and fear to drain away. As it did, the moonbeam flickered and was extinguished.

The blood haired man was on the verge of running for reinforcements when he saw the power leave the little girl. With a gloating laugh, he grabbed her.

"You think you can kill a youma and get away with it?" he asked. "The Master will be very glad to get a prize like you."

Amy had been watching all of this with wide eyes. She saw him grab the daughter of her best friend, whom she had sworn to guard. And like Reenie before her, she found she had the ability to do something about it.

The gray uniformed man suddenly yelled and let go of the little girl, as a gray blur used teeth and claws to tear into his hand. He threw Diana off of him and into the wall, and turned back to see the blue haired doctor rushing towards him. She threw a vial of something into his face, and he screamed as it hit his eyes. She grabbed Reenie, who had picked up Diana, and dragged them out of the room.

Reenie stopped suddenly. "Wait!" she cried. Before Amy could respond, Reenie tore her hand free and ran back into the room, past the blinded man, and picked up the doll. Although she had not really known Mika, she suddenly could not bear to be without the doll that Mika had obviously poured so much love into. She ran back out to where Amy was waiting, and they set off again.

As they ran out of the broken front door, the youma who had been left there saw them and attacked. Amy managed to dodge, so that the beam only hit her in the side, instead of straight on. The youma moved into position to shoot again when it heard the Lord's voice screaming for it from inside the house. Without a backward look, it turned and went inside.

Amy dragged Reenie even farther away, until she couldn't go any farther. She could feel the wound draining her life away, and finally pulled Reenie into the shadows of a hedge.

"Serena," she panted, "I don't know what exactly is going on, but I think that something in the past must have changed, so that you have a different future than you should. I think, in time, you will get memories of your past in this time to match what they should be. Why you remember the other future, I don't know. I'm not going to be able to make it any farther; you're going to have to go to Lita's on your own. Just be careful of the youmas and `watch' `what' `you' `say'," she said emphatically.

Reenie was crying silently, tears falling down her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you would all get hurt because of what I said. I didn't mean to do any harm. I just want my parents back."

"Your parents are dead, Serena," Amy said harshly, "You have to live in `this' world, because there's no way to change what has happened."

"So you're just giving up?!" Reenie almost shouted, before remembering that there was no way of telling who was listening. "And my name is Reenie!"

"There's nothing else we can do, Ser... Reenie. You have to be logical about this," Amy said more gently.

"I don't want to be logical! I want things to be the way they were, the way they're supposed to be!" A fresh spate of tears fell down Reenie's face.

"There's no way to go back and change the past, Reenie, you have to live with what you have," Amy said, trying to make her understand when she noticed Reenie staring at her with her hand at her throat. "What's wrong, Reenie?"

"My key? Where is the Crystal Key?" Reenie said intently.

"The Crystal Key? I don't know what you're talking about, and it's not important right now. Listen, and I'll tell you how to get to Lita's," Amy responded impatiently.

"You don't understand! The Crystal Time Key gives me the ability to travel through time! Puu gave it to me. If I had it, I could fix things!" Reenie almost begged for her understanding.

Amy did understand, but there was nothing she could do, and she knew she didn't have much time left. "Reenie," she said softly, "It's not here. I don't know anyone named Puu, and have never heard of the key. There is nothing you can do except try to keep yourself safe and get used to this life. I'm sorry."

"I can't believe you're just giving up! The Amy I know would never do that," Reenie said angrily. "She would use her brain to find a way out, even if she didn't have her powers. Why don't you anyway?" Reenie suddenly remembered to ask.

Amy ignored the last question. "I tried, don't you think I did? We all did, but there was nothing we could do. Now it's too late."

"It's never too late," Reenie almost growled. "If you won't help, then I'll find a way to make it right by myself." Reenie got up, grabbed Mi'a Doll and Diana, and ran off.

Amy tried to stop her, but wasn't able to get up. *Is she right?* she wondered sadly, *Could we have made a difference anyway? Good luck, little one. May Queen Serenity guide your steps. Princess, watch over your daughter,* she prayed silently.

Suddenly, Amy felt a presence above her. She turned over to look at the face of her executioner.

And smiled.

"Hello, Greg. I'm glad you found me, my love."

Reenie ran until she couldn't run any farther. When she looked around, she wasn't surprised to find herself in a very familiar park. "What do we do, Diana?" she asked softly. "There's got to be a way to make it right. There's just got to!"

"I don't know Reenie," Diana said, "but do you really think it was such a good idea to leave Amy there alone?"

Reenie hung her head, "No, it wasn't," she agreed in a small voice. She got up and started heading back slowly.

"Did you really mean all those things you said about your life?" Diana asked, interested, "You know, about being a Princess? That is what you are, isn't it?"

"Yes, I am Neo-Princess Serenity, of the Moon, Earth, Sun, and Crystal Tokyo," Reenie replied, "That reminds me, where's Uncle Tranq?"

"Who?" Diana asked, confused.

"Uncle Tranq, Travis William Watson," Reenie answered, "My mother's twin brother."

"Never heard of him," was Diana's answer.

"So something happened to him too," Reenie murmured.

Reenie was quiet for several moments, caught up in her memories of her family, and the last minutes of her newest family. She never saw the root in front of her and cried out as she tripped over it. She got up, rubbing her skinned knee, and murmuring something about being as clumsy as Serena, when she suddenly stopped. Lying in front of her on the ground was Mi'a Doll, with its porcelain face cracked.

Reenie gave a small cry as she scooped it up into her arms. The little doll was cracked far beyond her ability to fix. Reenie suddenly sat down and sobbed, hugging the broken doll to her desperately.

"What if it can't be fixed, Diana?" she asked brokenly.

"Don't worry, Reenie, we'll find someone who can fix the doll," Diana said soothingly.

"Not the doll, Diana. What if my life can't be fixed? What if this world can't be fixed? What if Amy was right? Nothing can make Sammy and Mika come back to life, and it's my fault they're dead. My fault," she whimpered.

Diana did the only thing she could think of, she licked Reenie's face and purred as hard as she could.

After a few minutes, Reenie pulled the doll away from her so she could see the damage better. As she did so, the whole face came away from the head, leaving a small space holding paper.

"What's this?" Reenie asked curiously.

"Probably just packing," Diana said, uninterested.

"I thought cats were supposed to be curious," Reenie came back absently as she pulled the paper out.

"Don't be silly," Diana answered. "You know what curiosity did to the cat."

Reenie wasn't paying attention, her entire attention taken up by the two things she held in her hands, a small package, and a letter in a very familiar handwriting.

"Mommy," she whispered. She opened the note.

**'Dear Serena,' it started, `Maybe that's wrong, by the time you get  
this, maybe you don't use that name anymore. Never mind, I  
guess that's not important right now. My darling daughter, I doubt  
you know me, and if you do I've probably changed this note. (I'm  
sorry, I'm not very coherent right now.) I look into your red eyes  
and wonder what your life is going to be like. I wonder how many  
of my friends you'll know, we've already lost so much. I would  
love to know that you're going to be growing up in a peaceful world.  
I want to be there as you grow, see you take your first step, say  
your first word, have you call me Mommy. Still I know that while  
that cannot be, you'll have the best life my brother and his wife  
can give you. They will love you as much as I would if I were  
there. As much as I do right now, and have since I first knew  
you were growing inside of me. If your father were here, he would  
say the same thing. Always remember that we love you, and always  
have. We have not been there for you, and for that I'm sorry, we  
would have been if we could.' **

**`Little one, I must tell you what has taken us away from you.  
Long ago, I accepted my destiny to try to save the world from evil.  
I fought it at first, but I did finally accept it. My love, my brother,  
my friends and I fought for as long as we could, and in the end it was  
not enough, we could not fight anymore. Still, your father died  
fighting to protect us, I think that is how he would have preferred it.' **

Reenie had to stop for a moment, until the tears left her eyes clear enough to see. Obviously, the note had been meant for her when she was older, and she didn't understand some of the words, but the important ones she had no trouble reading. She continued.

**`I have hidden for as long as I could, trying to protect you. I don't  
think it has worked, I think HE knows where I am. Because  
you are my daughter, Darien's daughter, and Travis's niece, you  
have several unique abilities, and I believe HE wants you. I will  
make HIM believe you are dead. HE will never get his hands on  
you, I promise. My life means little now, keeping you safe is the  
most important thing in the world. Perhaps one day you will be able  
to do as I have not and save this world.' **

**`Long before I ever dreamed of you, a young woman came up to  
me and gave me what is in the package that should be with this  
letter. She said that it was very important that my daughter have  
it, and to keep it safe until then. I did not know her, but somehow I  
believed her, and so I have kept it, and given it to Mika with this  
letter for safekeeping until you are grown.' **

**`I can write no longer, my daughter, and the important things have  
been said. This one thing, you must remember above all others.  
I love you. Your father loves you, as does everyone who knows  
you. Live easy in the thought that you live always in our love  
and our hearts, even if we cannot be there for you. If you do not  
find it within you to fight, I understand. Believe me, I understand.  
If that is what you choose, that is what you choose, and I will love  
you no less because of it.' **

**`Go with all my love,  
Your mother, Serena Usagi Tsukino.' **

**`P.S. Sorry for sticking you with my name, your father insisted.' **

Reenie slowly unwrapped the small package. She stared without surprise at the small crystal topped key. "I choose to fight, Mother," she said fiercely.

She carefully folded the letter, and placed it in her pocket. She gathered Diana and the doll into her arms, then raised the key into the air. "CRYSTAL TIME KEY! TAKE US TO THE GATE!"

Diana looked a little worried as the light surrounded them, even Mi'a Doll seemed worried, if her little broken face could show emotion. But Reenie just stood there stoically, going with the power, as she had learned to do. Soon they arrived at a featureless, shadowy, gray plain.

"Why are we here?" Diana asked in a very small voice. "I thought we were going into the past, to try to change it or something."

"We are," Reenie answered absently.

"Then why are we here?" Diana still didn't raise her voice, after all, there was no way of telling what might be lurking out there.

"Two reasons," Reenie answered as she walked forward. "Number one, I need to talk to Pluto, and this is where she lives."

"Where is here, anyway?" Diana broke in.

"These are the time plains that surround the Gateway of Time. And before you ask, Pluto is the Guardian of Time." Reenie was looking around her for the light that was always next to the gate. "The second reason is that the Time Key always takes you here. You cannot go to another time without passing through the Gate. So why bother saying, take me to the future, or to the past, when it's only going to take you to the gate?"

"Oh," Diana answered. She was quiet for a long moment before asking, "What's that?"

"What's what?" Reenie followed the pointing paw and glimpsed something through the fog. She walked toward it, getting more nervous by the step. Finally she stood in front of the Gate. The lantern next to it was unlit, and the area was deserted.

"Pluto!" Reenie yelled.

"Uto... uto... to... to..." came back to her from the echoes.

"PLUTO!" she yelled again, louder. Her only answer was echoes.

"Puu, where are you?" she yelled once more.

"Where are you... are you... you..." came back from the darkness.

"Puu, where are you?" she whispered, "You don't leave your post. You would certainly never let the light go out."

"So, are we trapped here?" Diana asked nervously.

Reenie looked around once more before shaking her head. She wanted to go searching, but knew how dangerous it was to leave the trail. And no matter what Diana thought, they had been following a trail well marked in her memories.

She walked up to the gate.

"So what time are we going to?" Diana asked.

"I'd hoped to ask Pluto that," Reenie said looking down at her. "Do you know when things started to go wrong with the Scouts?"

"I don't know," Diana admitted, "Mama never told me that, and no one else would talk about it, because of those guys."

"I've got to know what has happened to my home," Reenie suddenly decided. Before Diana could say anything, Reenie was in front of the gate. "CRYSTAL TIME KEY! OPEN THE GATE! TOKYO, 2997!"

The gate opened, almost reluctantly it seemed. Reenie ran through and dropped to the ground. "Why does it always open so high?" she asked in disgust before looking around. She had thought that last time she came, with all the broken crystal buildings was bad. This was much worse.

The plain where Tokyo and Crystal Tokyo had stood was empty. Not a building, not a tree, not a lake, not a person. Nothing. Desolation surrounded them as far as they could see. There was no sign that Crystal Tokyo had ever stood there. Here and there small ruins poked up through the brown dirt that covered the plain. The contrast just made it worse.

"This is where you lived?" Diana whispered.

"Maybe I messed up," Reenie answered, "Maybe this isn't the right time. There might be a time between Tokyo and Crystal Tokyo where it looks like this. Yes, that must be it, I messed up, this isn't 2997, it's some other time."

"I don't think you messed up, Reenie," Diana sounded much more mature than a kitten. "This is what the future is going to be if we don't stop whatever went wrong."

"What do you care?!" Reenie suddenly yelled. "This isn't your home! You don't know it! You lived there, why would you want to change your own past? You don't know what Crystal Tokyo was like. You don't know what my parents were like. Why should you care?"

"Because from the sound of it, you're life was a whole lot better than mine!" Diana yelled back. "Do you know what it's like never being able to talk? Do you know how I felt watching my mother walk away? I want my parents back too. I want a future where I don't have to worry about losing my ability to talk because I was never able to use it. I want a future where I can see my parents in more than dreams and memories. I want peace as much as the next being. I'm not going to let you or anyone take that hope of a happy future away from me. I won't! Do you hear me? I won't let you do that!"

Reenie stared down at the crying kitten before sweeping her up into her arms. "I'm sorry, Diana, I'm sorry. I'm just so scared. I want my parents. You know, I didn't actually believe they were dead. I thought maybe they'd been reborn and started Crystal Tokyo and were just waiting for me to join them. But they're not! They're gone! They're dead, and I wasn't even there! It's not supposed to be like this! I want my parents! I want to see my mommy and daddy again."

Reenie was crying and screaming at the same time. After all that had happened, she still hadn't truly believed. She had thought that maybe it was a dream, or a nightmare. Or that maybe her parents were just hiding to protect her. The desolation that surrounded her finally convinced her otherwise. Her parents were dead and hadn't been reborn. She was devastated by the thought. Diana wasn't much better. Suddenly Reenie pulled out the Crystal Time Key. "CRYSTAL TIME KEY! I WANT MY PARENTS!" she yelled, and barely even noticed the light surrounding her and taking her to the plain, much closer to the gate than usual. Without hesitating, she threw herself through the Gate.


	2. Chapter One

A boy and girl dressed in a local school's uniform walked down the street. The girl had her long blond hair in a strange hairstyle, done up in two buns with long streamers falling almost to her knees. The boy was slightly taller with hair several shades more golden than his companion's blond.

"What's the matter, Serena?" the boy asked worriedly. She had been very silent since they left school, something that only happened when she had something serious on her mind. The last time she had been that silent was over three months ago.

Serena shook her head slightly and looked at her companion. "It's nothing important, Travis," she said quietly, worrying him even more.

"Don't try telling me that," Travis said, "Not only are you never this silent unless you're worried, but I can practically feel the tension radiating off of you." Travis grinned slightly. "If thou art not worried, dear sister, then thou must have the need of cheering. And fate is kind, for I am here, and I am the perfect one to cheer thy dreary day."

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," Serena said immediately. She glared at her twin brother. "Anything to make you shut up," she muttered under her breath.

Travis clasped his hands to his heart, "A fatal blow! Oh, the pain! She has killed me with her wit!"

Serena tried hard to hide her smile as she kept walking away from her brother, who was now lying on the sidewalk miming death convulsions. Several people nearby applauded. He jumped to his feet, bowed, and then raced after Serena.

"So what's wrong?" he asked seriously as he caught up to her. All trace of joking had disappeared.

"It really isn't anything important," she said, looking up at him. "It's just Mom has decided she really wants to meet Darien and Dad has `very' reluctantly agreed. So now I've got to introduce them to each other, and hope I won't have to call an ambulance because my father has attacked my boyfriend, or had a heart attack over his age!"

Travis breathed a silent sigh of relief, it really wasn't important, except to her of course. "So, are you going to introduce them?"

"I don't know!" Serena wailed, "I mean, you've seen how fanatic Daddy can get over me having a boyfriend. What if he does attack Darien? Or what if he has a heart attack? Or what if they just don't like each other? What if Daddy forbids me to see him again? I'll just die if they don't get along. I can't live without Darien, you know that!"

Travis' sigh was not exactly one of relief anymore. *I should have left well enough alone,* he thought as he listened to his no longer silent sister babble on. "So you haven't decided on a date for this meeting yet?" he asked.

Serena didn't answer.

By this time they had reached Travis' house. Travis raised his hand and allowed the large golden falcon, Apollo, to land on his upraised fist. "So, what's going on?" Apollo asked in his grating voice.

"Oh, we're just trying to figure out how to introduce Darien to Serena's parents," Travis explained.

"We can't," Serena said suddenly. "We'll just have to tell Mom that he can't get off work or something. I can't introduce them! I can't take that kind of chance!"

"What kind of chance?" a voice said from inside.

"Uncle Jake!" Travis shouted, throwing Apollo into the air and running up to throw his arms around his guardian. "When did you get home? How long are you going to stay? Where did you go? Did you do anything exciting?"

Serena giggled silently. *He's as bad as me!*

Jake's thoughts were not nearly so cheerful. He looked down at his ward and saw how happy he was to see him. *I was right,* he thought *Travis needs a full time father around. I know Serena's family loves him dearly and treats him like a son, but it's not the same as having someone `here' all the time.*

"Hi Uncle Jake," Serena said, going up to give him a hug as well. Both Serena and Travis had hearts big enough that when they had found out they were twins; both instantly expanded their families to include the others. As far as Serena was concerned, Travis' guardian was her Uncle Jake as well.

Uncle Jake immediately opened the hug to include her. He had never had any trouble accepting his ward's twin sister either. Still, he had a special spot in his heart for Travis, and it was aching at the delight on Travis' face.

"I got home about two hours ago," he finally answered some of Travis' questions. "And I'm staying for at least three months."

"What?" both Serena and Travis screeched. Travis' voice for once being much louder than his sister's.

Jake looked straight at Travis. "This last assignment, I spent most of the time thinking about coming home. I missed you. And I finally realized something I `should' have realized months ago. I'm a family man now, and my first responsibility should be you. It is you."

Travis' face went hard. "I don't want to be a responsibility, Uncle Jake," said Travis harshly. He suddenly turned and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Serena stared after him with her mouth hanging open. She had never seen him act like that. Travis never lost his temper! "What happened?" she asked dazedly.

"I messed up," Jake admitted slowly. "I knew better then to use that word!" he yelled at himself. "I practiced that speech a dozen times, why didn't I realize it?"

"Realize what? What word? Uncle Jake, why was he so mad?" Serena asked intently. She was suddenly very worried about her brother, and Jake didn't look very good either.

"Travis was a responsibility to too many people, for far too long," Jake said quietly. "I think that right now, he's afraid that that is all he is to me. A responsibility."

"But that's silly!" Serena answered immediately. "Anyone can tell that you love him."

"So, you can see that, hmm?" Jake asked, smiling slightly.

"Of course. It's obvious," Serena answered. "And he loves you too."

"When has he had time to love me?" Jake asked quietly. "I'm never here."

"When have you had time to love him?" Serena asked back. "You're never here, remember?"

"That's different," Jake said uncomfortably, becoming even more uncomfortable as he looked into Serena's laughing eyes. "Okay, so it's not different."

"Talk it over with him at dinner then," Serena said, still trying not to laugh as she heard Jake argue like a teenager.

"He probably won't eat here tonight," Jake answered.

"Fine then, you're invited over to dinner at our house tonight," Serena said impatiently, "As long as you promise to try to work this out. Besides," she whispered to herself, "I could use the support."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked, having heard the whisper.

"Oh, well, Mom and Dad kinda, um..." Serena stuttered, and then she forced it out, "They want me to invite Darien over to dinner tonight! They want to meet him. What if they don't like him? What if they say I can't see him anymore?"

Jake stopped her before she could start worrying anymore. "Have you asked him yet?" he asked.

"No," Serena admitted, "I'm thinking about just telling Mom he can't come."

"Serena," Jake drawled.

"I know, I know," Serena muttered. "But you know Dad's going to think he's too old for me."

"Well, there is quite a difference in your ages," Jake put in.

"Don't start," Serena snapped out.

Just then her watch started beeping. Serena looked at it, and then looked up at Jake, "I forgot about that, I've got to go. I'll see you tonight," she shouted as she ran out the door.

Serena caught up with Travis as he was headed towards the temple. "Do you know what it's about?" he asked before she could start asking questions about his behavior.

"I don't know," Serena answered. "Raye just said she wanted everyone to get over to the temple."

"A new enemy, do you think?" Travis asked.

"You don't have to sound so happy with the idea," Serena snapped.

"Hey, I get bored," Travis answered, shrugging.

"Well, I for one, could do with some more time off," Serena answered.

"Oh, come on," Travis laughed, "Are you trying to tell me that you aren't looking forward to actually doing something?"

"I have been doing something," Serena said harshly. "I've been going shopping, going on dates with Darien, hanging out with my friends, all the things a normal teenage girl should do. That's what I want to continue doing. Being a normal teenage girl."

"Oh, come on, you don't really mean that," Travis teased. "You don't miss having the dashing Tuxedo Mask come and save you with a rose, in the nick of time? You don't miss making those cheesy speeches?"

"You don't miss spending time with your uncle?" Serena answered back.

Travis stopped. "It's not the same thing," he said quietly.

"Yes it is," Serena answered, stopping as well.

"Look," Travis said even quieter, "I don't want to be a responsibility to him. I don't want him to love me because he has to."

"He loves you just as much as you love him. I know you think of him as a father, so don't try telling me you don't."

"Why not? You're trying to tell me you don't enjoy fighting," Travis answered.

It was now her turn to say, "It's not the same thing."

The argument might have gone on for a while, if they hadn't suddenly been interrupted by a beeping on their wrists.

"What?" Serena asked absently.

"Where are you, Meatball Head?" Raye's voice came easily through the communicator. "You should have gotten here by now."

"We'll be there in a minute," Serena answered.

"Come on, let's go before she gets even madder." They started running. "By the way, you're coming to dinner tonight, aren't you?" Serena asked.

"Let me guess, Uncle Jake's going to be there, and you want us to make up," Travis said, "Or am I wrong, and you're actually `not' going to interfere?"

"Actually, I want you there because Mom said I was supposed to bring Darien over `tonight', and I can use all the support I can get," Serena answered. "But if you don't want to be there, and help your only sister in her darkest hour, that's okay, I don't mind." Serena tried to keep up the sad face, but couldn't and burst out laughing.

Travis laughingly agreed to be there as they reached the steps to Raye's temple.

"So?" Raye asked as soon as they reached the top.

"So what?" Serena answered.

"So, why did it take you so long to get here?" Raye yelled.

"We were busy!" Serena yelled back immediately.

"Was it more important than a Scout meeting?" Raye yelled even louder.

"Raye!" Luna, Amy, and Lita yelled out.

"What's all the shouting about? I could hear it even up there," a gravelly voice asked. They turned to see Travis moving Apollo from his fist to his shoulder.

"I just wanted to know why she was so irresponsible as to arrive late," Raye announced in an almost even voice.

"Irresponsible?" Serena yelled back. "I'm not the one that yelled out that this was a Scout meeting."

Raye slowly blushed as she realized that Serena was right. She `had' yelled that out. "You just did!" she retorted angrily.

"Why were you late?" Amy asked, stopping the argument. "You must admit, it's not something that happens that often anymore."

"Hey," Lita put in, "She was late to school yesterday."

"Well, yeah," Serena reluctantly agreed. "But I was only so sleepy because I'd stayed up late the night before."

"Doing what? Smooching with your boyfriend?" Raye asked snidely.

"I wish," Serena said dreamily as she thought about Darien. "No, I was studying for the math test."

Raye sighed, the wind taken out of her sails again. Over the past three months Serena had continued to show a new level of maturity. She was now a `B' student, and was usually on time. The martial arts class Travis had convinced her to start had almost cured her clumsiness. She still pigged out, and daydreamed, but not as badly as before. She still argued with Raye, but those arguments were less likely to degenerate into tongue duels. Not that it didn't still happen, but it didn't happen as often. Saturday and Sunday mornings were hers though, and the others had been threatened with a very painful death if they bothered her for anything other than an emergency. Even Travis didn't dare call her before noon. Still, her personality hadn't changed all that much, for which Raye was secretly glad. She was still loving, and a little bit ditzy although more apt to snap back at Raye instead of crying during one of their arguments.

"Anyway, why did you call this meeting Raye? Travis is hoping it's a new enemy," Serena snapped back to reality.

"So do I," Lita agreed, "It's been boring around here lately. We haven't had a fight for way too long."

"Well, I think you're going to get your wish," Raye answered. "I did a fire reading a little while ago, and I was getting some bad vibes."

"Amy, have you gotten anything on your computer?" Luna asked.

Amy already had her computer out and was checking. "I have something, but I can't quite tell what or where. It's like it's hiding, and my computer is only finding traces. They look familiar though."

"Agreed," Raye said, causing everyone to look at her, "The energy I was feeling felt familiar as well."

"Well, so far we've fought the Negaverse, a couple of aliens, and the NegaMoon family from the future, which did it feel like?" Mina asked brightly.

Raye went silent for a long moment as Amy typed on her computer. "The Negaverse," they both said at the same time.

"Then it's nothing to worry about," Serena dismissed it as her mind turned towards the dinner that night.

"What do you mean it's nothing to worry about?" Raye asked scathingly. "Do you remember how much trouble we had last time?"

"Yes, but we're stronger now, and we beat their strongest warriors then, what do we have to worry about?" Serena asked absently.

"Serena," Luna admonished, "Don't go getting overconfident! We have no idea what they might have come up with over the last year. Overconfidence like that might get someone hurt."

"Yes Luna," Serena said shamefaced. As Luna turned away to talk to Artemis, she didn't notice Serena sticking her tongue out at her.

"Better be careful, Meatball Head, or your face might get stuck like that," a low teasing voice said from behind her.

"Muffin!" she cried out, turning instantly and throwing herself into his arms.

Darien had braced himself as soon as he spoke, very used to this reaction. He caught her in his arms and held her until he was sure he had his balance. Still holding her, he looked around at the others. "What's going on?" he asked.

Before anyone could answer, Serena loudly cleared her throat. "Oops, sorry," he smiled before pulling her closer, bending down and kissing her.

When the two finally came up for air, Travis led the others in applauding. Even Raye and Amy joined in, although Raye wore a slight scowl. Luna just shook her head in defeat. Serena didn't notice, still too dazed from the kiss.

"Now," Darien said, "What's going on?"

Lita started, "A fight! Finally!"

"Where?" Darien said intently, all laughter banished from his expression. The quietness of the last few months had been making him edgy, even if it did give him more time with Serena.

"There isn't a fight yet," Amy said softly. "So far, all we have is feelings, and a slight trace on my computer. But it looks like the Negaverse again."

"The Negaverse?!" Darien asked. "I thought you had destroyed them!"

"Actually, so did I," Serena agreed as she finally came out of the daze Darien's kiss had thrown her into.

"You killed Beryl, true, but she was not the entire Negaverse," Luna put in.

Artemis seconded her, "We've known for some time that part of the Negaverse was still around. We just felt that they would be fighting among themselves for a long while longer."

"You knew and you didn't tell us?" Mina asked. "Artemis, I thought you told me everything!"

"Well, not `everything'," Artemis admitted, taking obvious pains `not' to look at Luna. "Besides, until they came to Earth, there was nothing we could do." He wondered why the girls were giggling and the boys giving him sympathetic looks. He looked behind him to see Luna stalking him with a very disgruntled expression and managed to get from the ground to the top of Mina's head in one jump.

Everyone was laughing at the interplay between the cats. The laughter got louder as Mina reached up and pulled Artemis off of her head and dropped him right in front of Luna. "You deserve this," she said sweetly as she left him for Luna.

"I suppose he's right though. We couldn't go into the Negaverse after them," Lita said, looking annoyed.

"Who says we should?" Travis asked.

"What do you mean?" Raye asked for everyone.

"Well, we know Queen Beryl and her generals were evil, although from what I understand one of them turned good before he died," Travis began.

"Yes, Nephrite," Serena said, "Molly still misses him a lot."

"Well, just because most of the ones you met were evil, doesn't mean everybody who lives there is," Travis continued. "Maybe the evil ones got control, so they were the only ones allowed through the gate."

"But Mother locked all the evil people in the Negaverse," Serena explained, "so of course they were all evil or Mother wouldn't have put them there."

"Did she?" Travis asked.

"Of course she put only bad people there. Why would she put good people there?" Serena asked, confused.

"I mean, did she actually choose who would be locked in the Negaverse, or were there already people in there that got locked up with Beryl and the Generals?"

Serena opened her mouth to answer and then closed it, the others looked much the same. Even Luna and Artemis settled down and tried to think of an answer to that question.

Raye finally answered. "Does it matter? We didn't go into the Negaverse after them, and we can't do it now, so there's no need to even ask the question. If they attack us on Earth, we're going to fight. If they don't, we won't. I believe they will though, the reading I got was too strong for there not to be a new attack soon."

"But there isn't one right now, is there?" Serena asked.

"No," Amy said, "the traces are too faint for there to be a youma in the city right now."

"I agree, it's not coming that soon," Raye reluctantly agreed.

"Then I need to talk to Darien, I'll see you later." With that, Serena grabbed Darien's arm and towed him down the temple steps.

"Serena!" Raye yelled after her. "Oh, what's the use?"

"Don't be too hard on her," Travis chuckled, "she's going to have a really bad night."

"What do you mean?" Mina was the one to ask it this time.

"Oh, just that her parents have decided it's high time they met Darien, and she's supposed to bring him to dinner tonight," Travis said.

Raye grinned maliciously.

Darien grinned slightly as he allowed himself to be pulled along behind Serena. The grin faded gradually as he noticed Serena wasn't chattering at him like she usually did. However, he stayed silent until they reached the park.

"Serena, what's wrong?" he asked quietly as she started pacing agitatedly in front of him.

"Wrong? What could possibly be wrong?" she asked in a nervous voice, not looking at him.

"That's what I want to know," he said as he walked over to her.

"I mean, besides the fact that Mom and Dad want you to come to dinner tonight, what could be wrong?" Serena babbled. "Oh Darien!" she wailed, "What if they don't like you? What if they say I can't go out with you anymore? What if Daddy attacks you or has a heart attack or throws you out of the house for being too old for me? What if..."

"Serena," Darien soothed, "it will be all right. You know nothing can separate us now."

"Not forever," Serena agreed, leaning into his hug. "But they could separate us for years. You know how my father is! He's almost rabid about my going out with boys. What if we can't convince him that we love each other? What if..."

Darien silenced her in the most effective way possible. When they were finally able to talk again he said, "No more `what ifs', my sweet. Everything will work out, you'll see. But I had better go if I want to be presentable this evening. What time?"

It took several repeats of that question before Serena was finally able to answer it. "Oh, um... seven," she finally blurted out. "And Travis and Uncle Jake are going to be there too."

"Well, at least I'll have a little support," he smiled slightly. Looking down at her strained face he continued, "It `will' be okay. You'll see." He dropped a kiss on her forehead and spoke over his shoulder as he was leaving. "Tell your mother I'm delighted at the invitation and will certainly be there. Does she know Travis and Jake are coming?"

"Of course she..." Serena started to call in answer. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh, no!" she cried, "I forgot to ask her! Bye!" she yelled as she ran towards her house.

In another place, far away, and yet not so far, a man stood watching the drill of an army of monsters. He was gray skinned, with hair shades darker, matching exactly the unadorned gray uniform he wore. The only color in this gray man was his blazing yellow eyes. "Emperor Rhyolite," a voice came from behind him, startling him. In an even flow, the man turned, his sword almost instantly in his hand and pointing at the neck of the young woman standing behind him.

"I have warned you about doing that, Quartz," he said sharply.

"I forgot," she shrugged, unconcerned.

"One of these days, your forgetting is going to get your head taken from your shoulders. You know how tense it is around here lately with all of those assassination attempts," Emperor Rhyolite said as he turned to watch the drilling again.

"I know, Father, but I still don't believe that this is the best way to get them to stop," Quartz said, going up to lean next to her father.

"Quartz!" Rhyolite almost yelled before getting control of herself. "You know not to do that either! No one must know you're my daughter, or they'll try to kill you, too."

"Don't worry, Father," Quartz replied, "There's no one close enough to hear, and I checked for bugs and scrying spells before I first spoke to you. No one can hear."

"I should have known," he muttered to himself.

"Yes, you should have," Quartz agreed, smiling very slightly. "You did teach me always to be thorough. You haven't answered my question yet though."

"It wasn't really a question," Rhyolite replied, "And if you can think of a better, why haven't you said anything before now?"

"You know I can't," Quartz responded in a disgusted tone. "I know the troops need someone to fight or they'll attack each other, but to attack the Earth!"

"And most of all, to put Spessarite in charge, correct?" Rhyolite answered.

"Correct! There are any number of Generals that would be better at gathering energy to open the portal. You know he's not going to be content with just gathering energy quietly. He's going to do it openly, causing as much terror as he can, in the hopes that the Sailor Scouts will show up. Then they will, and they'll destroy his youmas and we won't get the energy! If we're going to do it, we at least need to do it smart!"

"And what do you mean by doing it smart?" he questioned intently.

"We need to collect energy from a number of people at once, and then not enough so that they'll feel they've been drained. Never pull enough energy that they'll collapse, that's a sure sign that it's us doing it. You know, gather a little off the top at concerts, parties, amusement parks, places where they'll expect to go home feeling drained."

"You've been thinking about this, and it seems the intelligence department is working as well as ever," Rhyolite responded.

"Of course I've thought about this. Father, you know how Spessarite will screw it up! You've got to put someone else in charge!" Quartz was almost pleading.

"I can't, Daughter," he said extremely quietly. "Spessarite leads the biggest faction. If I don't give him this assignment, his people will rebel. The others will follow. This war is the only thing that is keeping the Generals from going at each other's throats again. We have had too much of civil war as it is. We could not survive another one."

"Why did you ever have to be proclaimed `Emperor'?" Quartz asked despairingly. "Life was so much less complicated before. All we had to worry about was Beryl killing you for your strange ideas of leading men or because you were one of the Nals. The only reason she didn't was because you always won."

"Someone had to take over," Rhyolite said, "Better me than someone like Spessarite."

"I suppose that's true," Quartz said contemplatively. "But you don't mind if I hope the Sailor Scouts will kill..." her voice trailed off. "That's what you hope too, isn't it?" she said in amazement. "You know how he'll be, you `want' the Sailor Scouts to kill him, don't you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Rhyolite asked mock gravely.

Quartz wasn't listening. "Once he dies, you can proclaim that Earth has taken too many of our best generals, and it will be best if we hold off on the war against them until we're stronger." Quartz's voice was still filled with shock as she turned to her father and bowed. "Congratulations Father, I had no idea you had it in you."

"You had to get your cleverness somewhere," Rhyolite grinned. "Still, if it doesn't work, we're going to have to think up a way to defeat the Sailor Scouts. There is no other way I can put it off."

"I'm pretty sure I do know a way," Quartz said softly. "But if I hadn't learned about this plan of yours, I never would have told you."

"I know," Rhyolite agreed, "I have no idea where you got that sense of honor."

"Oh, I think you do," Quartz grinned. She checked around to make sure no one was watching, then stood up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "You know, when you come right down to it, you're a very bad evil emperor."

"Maybe that's what the Negaverse needs at the moment."

"Maybe it is," Quartz murmured. "I'll see you later."

"Next time announce yourself first, okay?" he called after her.

"Maybe!" she yelled back.

The youma who had been clinging above the balcony looked around carefully to make sure it was still unseen and then scurried off to tell his master the conversation it had just heard.

After running to tell her mother about their extra guests, Serena had rushed upstairs to get dressed. She wanted to look nice for Darien, and yet didn't want an outfit that would cause her father to growl. Luna, who had come in after handling Artemis was forced to watch a fashion show as Serena tried on outfit after outfit and discarded them all.

"Too young. Too old. Too plain. Oh Dad would have a fit over this one, bet Darien would like it though, hmm Luna? Way too casual. I don't have anything to wear!" she wailed.

Her mother walked into the room. "What's the matter dear?"

"I don't have anything to wear! Dad would have a fit over most of these, and who would want to wear the rest of them?" Serena seemed about to burst into tears while her mother smiled in understanding.

"You seemed to like them when you bought them," she said gently.

"That's different! That's for other things. This is special and I need something special to wear!" Serena seemed about to go into a full wailing fit.

Her mother briefly reflected how rare they were getting but couldn't help but wish they were a bit rarer. "What about this?" she asked, holding up a white dress.

"But that's so boring!" Serena exclaimed.

"Not if we do it right," she explained. _______________________________________________________________________________

Hours later, the doorbell rang. Serena raced down the stairs to answer it. Her smile was bright, if a bit nervous as she opened the door. She collapsed in relief for an instant as she realized it was only Darien Jacobson, not Darien Chiba.

"Hi Uncle Jake, come on in," she bubbled, putting her happy expression back on.

"Thank you, Serena. You look very nice tonight," he said sincerely.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, twirling in front of him. She was dressed in the white dress and had used an extremely long pink scarf as the belt, collected in a bow in the back, the ends just reaching the bottom of the skirt. A pearl bracelet graced one arm, while a pink watch she never seemed without was on the other. Pearl barrettes and a pink choker completed the outfit.

"I do indeed," Jake agreed, stepping in and saying hello to the rest of the Tsukino's.

The doorbell rang again and Serena raced to open the door. Travis stood on the other side. He looked at her for a minute. "I thought you weren't going to interfere," he said, pointing at his uncle's car in the driveway.

"I never said that," Serena argued, pulling him into the house.

"That's how it sounded to me," Travis resisted the pull.

"Then you should have listened more closely," Serena smiled, gave a yank, and pulled him into the house.

He gave up and followed her as she led him towards the living room. She pushed him inside and motioned to her parents to leave after they said hello. She slammed the door and leaned against it. "You two aren't getting out of there until you talk this out!" she yelled through the door.

The doorbell rang again and Serena started to bolt towards it. She then remembered her self-imposed duty of making sure Travis and Uncle Jake worked things out. She glanced at the front door and then the door to the living room. As she stood there undecided, her mother walked toward the front door and opened it. Serena walked back and leaned on the living room door again while keeping both ears and eyes trained on the conversation at the front door.

Darien's eyes immediately went towards her as her mother opened the door. Serena smiled nervously at him and Darien smiled back reassuringly. Her mother watched this with a smile of her own. Darien's eyes went back to the woman in front of him.

"Hello Mrs. Tsukino," Darien said, "Thank you for inviting me to your house."

"You're welcome, Darien isn't it?" Mrs. Tsukino said, leading him into the house.

"Yes Ma'am, Darien Chiba. I hope you'll accept this token of my appreciation," he said, handing her a bouquet of red roses.

Mrs. Tsukino oohed over the hostess gift. "I'll put them straight into a vase. Thank you, Darien, this was very thoughtful," she said, leaving him in the hall with her daughter and husband. As she passed the latter, she whispered, "And he's well mannered too."

"Humph," was all Mr. Tsukino said to that as he walked toward the young man. His reaction was not nearly as favorable. *This is a college student! Why is he hanging around my innocent daughter? He's way too old for her, and I'm going to tell him so!* At that moment he caught his daughter's pleading eyes, and knew he couldn't send him away immediately. *But as soon as this dinner is over, I'm going to make sure he doesn't see her again!*

Darien braced himself as Serena's father came up to him. He noticed the way Mr. Tsukino was glaring at him and expected an immediate demand to get out of the house. He was surprised when Mr. Tsukino only growled a hello.

Mr. Tsukino was about to start grilling Darien when his wife's voice came out of the kitchen. "Honey? Will you hold off on asking the young man any questions until dinner please? I think we would all like to hear the answers." Mr. Tsukino walked away grumbling.

Darien was looking at his girlfriend and his eyes gleamed at how pretty she looked. He raised his eyebrow to ask why she hadn't come to say hello and her lips quirked into a grin as she looked at the door she was resting against. He remembered the car he had seen outside and nodded his understanding.

Mr. Tsukino noticed the silent communication going on between the two, and knew it was not something that could happen overnight. He almost growled protectively.

Inside the living room, Travis and Jake had stood silently for a long moment before they both started speaking.

"I'm sorry I..." "I didn't mean..."

They laughed uneasily for a second, and then Jake nodded at Travis to go first.

Travis took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I yelled at you this afternoon. I guess you just hit a sore spot."

"I know," Jake said, "I knew as soon as I said the word. I didn't mean it like that, Travis. You could never be a responsibility to me. I'm staying home because I `want' to, not because I have to. I want to spend more time with you. And before you say anything about my being bored without a job, I've decided to try to do a story on the Sailor Scouts."

Travis' eyes immediately shuttered and he tried hard to keep the smile he had had since he heard and believed what his guardian was saying about wanting to stay home with him. "The Sailor Scouts?" he asked, "I don't think they've been seen for the last couple of months, have they?"

"No, and that's one of the reasons I want to do a story on them. Why haven't they shown up? Why do they fight, and what are those monsters? Who were the new Scouts that showed up just before they disappeared? I'm really excited about this. Don't you want to find out who they are?"

"Not particularly. I'm just glad they're here and leave it at that. They might not appreciate someone trying to find out their secrets." Travis was trying desperately to think of a story that might be more interesting or a reason his guardian would accept for not doing that story. He couldn't think of anything. *He wouldn't print anything about our real identities, would he? If he found out it was me and Serena, he'd drop it, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he?* Although his heart was yelling `Of course he would' his mind told him he couldn't be sure. He decided to wait and watch.

Jake sniffed the air. "It smells like dinner is ready, are we made up yet, so we can go eat?"

Travis forced a laugh. "I think so," he agreed.

Jake went over and opened the door. He jumped back quickly as Serena, who had been leaning against it, crashed to the floor.

Serena screwed up her face and opened her mouth to wail, before remembering that she needed to act mature in front of her father tonight. Wailing would not be a good way of convincing her father that she was old enough to have a boyfriend.

"Didn't you know that the door opened inward?" Travis asked, laughing as he picked her up. Darien was there at her other side as well. Travis spoke so both of them could hear but his guardian couldn't. "We've got a problem, I'm calling a Scout meeting first thing tomorrow morning. You too Darien."

"But Travis, tomorrow's Saturday!" Serena whined quietly, visions of her being forced out of bed before noon floating through her head.

"It's an emergency Serena! Nine o'clock tomorrow morning at the temple." Travis looked directly into her eyes until she agreed. Darien gave a calm nod as Travis looked at him.

Jake wondered what they were talking about so intently, but Mrs. Tsukino's voice calling them to dinner came at that moment. They separated and walked into the dining room. Sammy, who had been playing in his room until then, was already seated at the table. Mrs. Tsukino had placed Darien next to Serena, and Mr. Tsukino growled when he saw that.

As soon as they started eating, Mr. Tsukino started in. "Just what are your intentions towards my daughter, young man?"

Darien thought about it for less than a second. "Honorable. I intend to marry her when she's old enough."

Serena smiled in delight but Mr. Tsukino continued to glare. "Don't you think she's a little young for you?"

"I don't think age really matters," Darien answered steadily. "Not when love is involved."

"She's a little young to know what love is, don't you think? Aren't you really taking advantage of her by convincing her she loves you when she hasn't had a chance to love anyone?"

"Daddy!" Serena's voice cut through the silence. "Darien has never tried to convince me that I love him! I'm the one that's had to do the convincing!"

Darien put his hand over Serena's to silence her. "Serena knows more of love then I do, she's had it all of her life. Are you telling me you never showed her any love, so that she wouldn't know it when she feels it? The only way Serena could not know what love is, is if it was never shown to her, or she had never felt it. And she has more love in her than anyone I have ever met."

Mr. Tsukino took a moment to eat and re-gather his thoughts. He hadn't expected that strong a defense. He decided to take another track. "All I'm saying is that she's a little young for you to be so sure. I think it might be best if you didn't see each other for a while to try to get a perspective." He expected a whining fit from his daughter over that. He didn't get one.

"No way!" Serena shouted, rising from her chair and leaning over the table. "There is `no way' we are going to separate for a while. Especially not for my own good! We went through that! I've had him break up with me before because he thought he was protecting me. Never again! We were both absolutely miserable, and I will not allow you to do that to me again! I love Darien, Father, and you need to get used to the idea because we will eventually be married. We are not planning on doing anything soon, I promise you that. But I will not stop seeing him, or allow you to make us. Do you understand?"

Everyone was staring at her in shock. The adults and Sammy had never seen her like this before. Travis and Darien had, but only when protecting her daughter. She was obviously ready to fight anyone and everyone that would try to come between them.

Darien stood up and put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back to her chair. She reached up to hold his hand as he stood behind her. "Mr. Tsukino, I do agree with Serena. We're not going to let anyone separate us again. It's not truly the difference in our ages that you object to, is it?"

Mr. Tsukino was still in shock over the way his daughter had talked to him, so his wife stepped in. "What do you mean, Darien? What else could he be objecting to?"

"Her age," he answered gently. "If we were ten years older, no one would think anything of a thirty-one year old dating a twenty-five year old, would there?"

"No, that would be considered a good match," Serena's mother agreed, understanding what he was saying.

"But she's only fifteen!" Mr. Tsukino had finally gotten his voice back.

"But she promised, and so do I, that nothing is going to happen for years. We are not going to get married until `she's' ready, and if that means not until after college, then so be it. I can wait, as long as I know that no one is going to try to separate us again." Darien spoke sincerely, and looking into his eyes, Mr. Tsukino could see he meant every word he said.

He sighed, the wind taken out of his sails. He couldn't argue with the united front the two had put up and looking into his daughter's determined eyes, he wondered for a second what she would do if he did refuse to allow them to date. He realized in shock that he didn't want to find out. His daughter had grown up and he had refused to see it.

Darien sat back down and silence surrounded the table.

Jake broke it. "I hope I don't have to go through that with you," he said quietly to Travis.

"Oh, don't worry," Serena said absently, "his girlfriend's his own age."

"Oh really?" Jake said, looking at his ward, "and who is she?"

"Yes, who is she?" Mrs. Tsukino asked, "You haven't told us about any girlfriend!"

"That's because I don't have one!" Travis denied.

"What about Crystal?" Serena asked mischievously.

"That's that new girl at your school, isn't it?" Sammy asked, having been warned `very' strongly ahead of time about butting in during the questioning. "I've seen you around with her."

"She's not my girlfriend! She's just a friend, that's all!" Travis said desperately.

"Methinks he doth protest too much," Jake teased. He looked at his watch. "Thank you for the delicious dinner, but I forgot I have a meeting about the story I'm planning. I'll see you at home, Travis. I'll see the rest of you later." He grabbed his coat and raced out of the house.

"Bye," Mrs. Tsukino called after him, slightly stunned over how fast he had moved.

"What's the new story about, Travis?" Mr. Tsukino asked, finally getting back into the conversation.

"He wants to do a story on the Sailor Scouts," Travis admitted. Serena and Darien looked at him sharply and he nodded very slightly.

"Oh, neat!" Sammy exclaimed, "Maybe he'll find out who they are!"

"Maybe he will," Travis answered grimly.

As the conversation turned to the Sailor Scouts, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Sammy yelled, jumping from his seat and running to the front door.

Serena, Darien, and Travis were trying to show the proper enjoyment of the conversation when Serena's head jerked up. As the others stared at her, she shoved her chair back and stood up. Without seeming to pay attention to anything, she walked towards the door. The others quieted and listened. They could hear a faint wailing noise getting louder. Suddenly the door of the room slammed open and a pink haired little girl, dressed in pajamas and clutching a doll and kitten, ran into the room.

"Mommy!" she cried. Sobbing, she threw herself into the arms of Serena, who had bent down to catch her.

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_Oh! Cliffhanger! REVIEW!_


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